Device for holding skeins of silk, &amp;c.



No. 649,495. Patented May I5, I900. S. SWEENEY.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING SKEINS OF SILK, 81.0.

(Application filed Sept. 20, 1898.]

(No Model.)

Fig. Ifi Inventor:

m: NORRIS Pzrzns co, PNOTO-LITHOJWASHINGTON. n. c

UNrrn STATES ATENI OFFICE.

S'IVASIA SlVEENEY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEVlCE FOR HOLDING SKEINS OF SILK, 86C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,495, dated May 15, 1900.

Application filed $epteinl er 20, 1898- Serial No. 691,428. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, STASIA SWEENEY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Springfield, in the county of I-Iampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Devices for Holding Skeins of Silk, &c., of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is especially to provide a device to hold skeins of embroidery-silk so that a single thread at a time may be conveniently withdrawn Without entangling the remainder; and my object is,further, to provide a device for holding skeins of silk or thread and so constructed that the silk or thread may be easily and readily inserted and maintained in position and so that one or more threads may be taken out at a time without tangling or snarling, and a device wherein it becomes unnecessary to braid or twist the silk or thread or in any manner prepare it to prevent tangling.

My object is, further, to provide a device which, while being convenient to handle and operate, will hold a great number of skeins and will be simple in operation and inexpensive in manufacture and occupy but little space and when constructed to fold may be folded or closed to form a small and compact carrying-case.

Iaccomplish the objects of my invention by the construction herein shown.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure l is a plan view of my device while open or extended, showing several skeins of silk mounted. Fig. 2 illustrates a modification in the arrangement of the hooks, so as to increase the capacity of the device. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate different kinds of hooks that may be used in the construction of the device. Fig. 7 is a view illustrating one method of making the hooks or holding devices from a strip of sheet metal. Fig. 8 illustrates a series of hooks made of a continuous piece of wire. Fig. 9 illustrates a modification in which buttons or studs are employed in the place of hooks. Fig. 10 is a plan view showing studs similar to shoestuds mounted on a backing. Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the same, and Fig. 12is a perspective of the device closed.

The construction and operation of my device will be readily understood on reference to the drawings in connection herewith. I find that if suitable hooks, studs, or other holding devices be employed, so as to cause the threads to travel in a tortuous path and without being compelled to turn-or be brought in contact with too many sharp curves or corners, the requisite frictional contact will be produced, so that the friction between the strands at rest and the hooks or studs or other holding devices will be greater than the friction between the moving strand and the strands at rest, so that a single thread or strand may be drawn out while the others remain in place. It will also be seen that a strand if withdrawn will under such circumstances move without tangling or causing the entanglement of the remaining strands.

In order to avoid the delay and annoyance found in the employment of a device wherein it becomes necessary to pass the ends of the skein through an opening or a series of openings, I employ hooks or studs so constructed that the skein may as a whole be inserted by a lateral motion and prefer (although it is not necessary to the successful operation of the device) that suitable stops or tongues be arranged to prevent accidental removal of the skein. For illustration if hooks of the type known as the hump hook or the golden spring i. e., a hook having a tongue to prevent accidental movement from under the bill-be mounted upon a suitable backing, which may consist of cardboard, each hook being out of line with the next adjacent ones, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the thread or silk be inserted in such hooks, the same may be withdrawn a single strand at a time without tangling the remainder.

I prefer that the hooks or studs be mounted in the manner shown in the drawings--that is, two rows upon each section of the device, and that these sections be suitably attached together, so as to permit of the device being folded one section upon the other, thus enabling me to construct a device of large capacity which may be readily folded to occupy but little space. It will, however, be soon that a continuous backing or sheet of cardboard or other material may be employed, if desired.

If studs are employed instead of hooks, they should be set sufficiently near each other, so as to give the device large capacity, and at the same time each stud will serve to aid in preventing the accidental displacement of the thread bearing against the next stud. If hooks be used, they may be the hook of the usual kind of hooks and eyes found in the market or they may be especially made for the device. If such ordinary hooks are employed, they may be sewed to the backing or attached with staples, or the bill or shank and bill may project through openings in the backing and the eye end be glued or otherwise fastened in place, or they may be attached in any other manner.

In Fig. 6 I illustrate a special hook, it bein g provided at its rear end with prongs which pass through suitable openings in the backing and are turned over, th us securely fastening the hook-in place.

In Fig. 7 I illustrate a strip of hooks struck up from a strip of sheet metal, and in Fig. 8 I illustrate a strip of hooks formed of a continuous piece of wire.

The most inexpensive manner of manufacturing the device as at present advised is to sew ordinary garment-hooks upon cardboard sections and sew or glue the sections to a flexible sheet of leatherette, (it being linen-finished to look like leather.)

It will be seen that by arranging the hooks at an angle, as shown in Fig. 2, the parts which engage the silk may be placed very close together, so that the capacity of the device is larger than if the hooks were arranged in line, as shown in Fig. 1.

In my device there are no openings in the body or backing through which the end of the skein is passed to mount it in place; but the holding means is all at or above the surface of the backing and the mountingis by lateral motion, while the taking of the strands from the holder is by longitudinal motion.

Having therefore described my invention,

*what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a silk-holder, a flexible backing composed of folding sections secu red on the backing, and thread-holding hooks mounted on the sections and arranged in tortuous lines in the plane thereof, substantially as shown and de scribed.

2. A si1k-holder,comprisin g a flexible sheet, a sectional backing mounted on the flexible sheet, and thread-holding means secured to the sections and arranged in tortuous lines in the plane thereof, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of a suitable backing, and a series of thread-holding means, as d mountedon the said backing, and arranged in succession in tortuous lines, a skein of silk placed on the holding means in a continuous general direction on a tortuous or angular line and in the plane of the backing.

4:. The combination of a series of sections adapted to be folded one upon the other, and a series of thread-holding means secured on the sections holding silk or thread extending from section to section in tortuous lines in the plane of the sections when they are extended, substantially as described.

5. In a silk-holder, a flexible backing, folding sections secured on the backing, and thread-holding hooks mounted on the sections and secured by the flexible backing and arranged in tortuous lines in the plane of the sections, substantially as shown and described.

6. A silk-holder comprising a suitable backing, and thread holding means mounted thereon in tortuous lines and in the plane of the backin g, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. A silk-holdingdevicecomprisingabacking, and lines of three or more hooks mounted thereon with their bills projecting alternately in reverse direction.

0 8. A holder for silk, thread, 850., comprising a backing, and hooks mounted on the face thereof arranged out of line with each other to maintain thread placed therein in tortuous lines on or above the surface of the backing.

9. A-holder for silk, thread, 850., comprising a'backing and hooks mounted on the face thereof and arranged in tortuous lines and in the plane of the backing, whereby a skein of silk or thread may be disposed on thehooks, substantially as shown and described.

STASIA SWEENEY.

Witnesses:

ALLEN WEBSTER, HOMER R. CORSON. 

